Soap Making Part 1 - Easy Soaps

Here are the basic steps and procedures for you to start a soap making business.

Basic Melt and Pour Soap Tutorial

1. You can melt the base in a double boiler or the microwave. If you choose the microwave, make sure you cover the bowl you are melting the melt and pour (MP) with Saran Wrap to keep the excess moisture from evaporating out. Simply melt the base on high for one minute and stir the remaining, unmelted pieces in.

If you use a double-boiler, simply bring the water to boil, add your melt and pour, cover, turn the heat on low and walk away. Check on the base periodically to see it it's melted.

2. If you add fragrance oil, add it after the base is fully melted. Stir until the fragrance is fully incorporated and the base doesn't look "cloudy." Start with .25 ounce per pound of base and work up or down from there. You can also use essential oils.

3. If you wish to add colorant, add the color when the base is melting. Just throw in 1/8 teaspoon to 1/4 teaspoon mica with the melting base and stir it in really well. Spray any "mica bubbles" that form on the top with rubbing alcohol. To use food coloring, simply put in 1 drop at a time to your melted base and color to preference. Too much can stain hands and towels, so be careful!

4. Pour into your molds - and spray the top with rubbing alcohol to get rid of any excess bubbles.

5. Use and enjoy once the soap is hard - which takes a few hours.

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Fun Soap Recipes

Breakfast for your Skin - (Oatmeal & Brown Sugar Scrub)

Exfoliates and is very moisturizing but doesn't leave a greasy feeling. Before you turn off your shower scoop a small handful of scrub into your hand. Rub gently onto your skin. Rinse.

3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup ground oatmeal (not instant)
1/4 cup pure honey
3/4 to 1 cup (or to total saturation)
Oil of choice - I use Jojoba, Grapeseed or Sweet Almond
1/4 tsp Essential or Fragrance oil of choice (optional) Vanilla works nicely. Though this smells great on it's own.

Mix the brown sugar & oatmeal together in a large bowl. Now add the honey. Drizzle the oil over the mix. Mix well. When all your mix is saturated and sinks to the bottom of the bowl and you have oil on top you're done. Add your essential oil or fragrance oil. A six or eight ounce wide-mouthed jar works nicely. Spoon mixture in.


Brown Sugar and Lemon Scrub

A touch of lemon makes this scrub so refreshing! - Recipe submitted by Josephine Santos.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup salt
1 tablespoon of kalamansi or lemon
1 tablespoon of virgin coconut oil(vco)
1 tablespoon of honey

Mix brown sugar and salt, then add kalamansi or lemon juice, virgin coconut oil and honey, mix well.


Aunt Katie's Body Scrub

Honey 3/4 cup
Caster sugar 1 cup
Sea salt 1 cup
Jojoba oil 3ml
Fragrance oil 3ml (orange & ylang ylang are beautiful combined with the honey)

Pour honey into medium sized bowl, then add sugar and stir to combine. Add the salt in increments, to adjust the consistency to your liking. (I prefer a consistency not unlike crytallized honey). When all ingredients combine, add oils and stir well. This recipe is particularly long keeping as the lack of water discourages bacteria.


Honey Bee CP Soap

Olive Oil 32 oz.
Palm Oil 16 oz.
Tallow 24 oz.
Totals 72 oz.
5% Superfatted Lye Amount 9.477 oz.
Ounces of water recommended 23.760 oz.

At trace, add fragrance and 1 Tablespoon of Honey. Do not insulate your soap as the Honey may cause your soap to superheat.


Easy Shea Butter CP Soap

Coconut Oil 16 oz.
Olive Oil 18 oz.
Palm Oil 16 oz.
Shea Butter 4 oz.
Tallow 16 oz.
Totals 70 oz.
5% Superfatted Lye Amount 9.815 oz.
Ounces of water recommended 23.100 oz.


Easy Lip Balm Recipe - using Lanolin

1oz. Olive Oil
.3oz of Lanolin
.4oz of Shea Butter
.4oz of Beeswax
Flavor oil and Stevia for taste.


Melt beeswax gently over a double boiler (or in the microwave if no double boiler is available). In a separate container, heat the Lanolin oil and Shea Butter up until it is fully liquid. Add the olive oil to the melted Lanolin oil and Shea Butter. Combine the beeswax and all the oil, stir well. Add flavoring (if desired) and pour into containers.


Skin Firming Gel - using CroThix

CroThix has a secondary use as a skin firming agent. (Its primary use is as a thickening agent in liquid soaps, and shampoos.) Here is an easy gel that you can make that is good for all skin types, using jojoba makes a non-comedogenic cream that won't clog your pores. (CroThix may be purchased at Bramble Berry Soap Making Supplies)

This makes (4) four ounce containers of gel-crème.

Water 13 oz.
Glycerin .5 oz.
Emulsifying Wax or Ceteryl Alcohol 1 oz.
CroThix .7 oz.
Jojoba Oil .6 oz.
Germaben II or Phenonip .16 oz.
Fragrance or Essential Oil .16 - .50 oz.

Heat the Water and Glycerin to 170 degrees and set aside. Heat the Emulsifying Wax until melted and add to the CroThix and Jojoba. Stir. Add the water and glycerin to the Emulsifying Wax, CroThix and Jojoba. Mix until the creme is 105 degrees (or less). Add your fragrance and preservative and package in jars or an easily squeezable package. Apply under make up for a more smooth application or as a night creme.


Easy Lotion Bars

4 ounces mango or shea butter
4 ounces beesweax, yellow or white
5 ounces liquid oil (jojoba or grapeseed are both excellent)
2 teaspoons of essential oil or fragrance oil

This lotion bar does not use cocoa butter so you can use any fragrance or essential oil that your heart desires and not have a chocolate over-smell.

Melt the beeswax in a separate container and the butter/oil in another container. Add together, mix well, stir in FO/EO and pour into containers. Mixture will harden in approximately 1-2 hours. The cooler the mixture is upon pouring it, the less 'divets' you'll get in the bar (that sunken spot at the top of the bar).


Butterfly Soaps by T.J. Currey

Materials:

One bar glycerin or lye-based soap (bar#1)
A second bar or scrap of glycerin or lye-based soap in a different color than bar#1 - big enough to use a cookie cutter with. Depth should be between 1/4 and 1/2 inch.
3 - 4 drops clear glycerin melt and pour soap
Small, metal butterfly cookie cutter
Soap paint

1. Decide which bar is to be the main bar (bar #1) and which is to be used to cut out the butterfly.
2. Cut out a small soap butterfly using a metal cookie cutter.
3. Melt a small amount of clear glycerin melt-and-pour soap. Using a plastic dropper, drop 3-4 drops of glycerin onto bar#1 and carefully press the butterfly against the melted glycerin. Wait approx. 10 minutes for it to cool.
4. Take out your soap paints and start playing. You can paint a sun, little antennae on the
butterfly, spots, grass - anything you desire. In addition, you don't have to limit yourself to just butterflies! Cut out stars, moons, flowers, etc. using the same procedure outlined in steps 2 and 3 and then paint to your heart's content.
5. Let paint dry for 24 hours before wrapping.


Bath Jelly Recipe - by Amy Vollmer

1/2 cup melted transparent Melt & Pour base
2 cups water
1 envelope Knox unflavored Gelatin
1/2 oz Germaben II
Fragrance oil
3 or 4 colorants
3 or 4 small containers

Pour envelope of Gelatin into a bowl and set aside. Microwave 2 cups of water until boiling. Gently pour into the bowl of gelatin and stir until completely dissolved. In the meantime melt the M&P in the microwave. Add fragrance oil to the melted M&P. Slowly pour the soap into the Gelatin and stir gently. When mixed thoroughly, pour into individual containers and color. Place uncovered containers in the refrigerator until firm.

Empty Playdoh containers work perfectly and Bath Jelly can be colored to match the lids! Kids have a blast with this jelly. They can scoop it out and toss into running water, paint the tub and themselves, glob onto a scrunchie or washcloth and even bathe with it! The possibilities are endless!


Gardener's Recipe

8 oz. Melt & Pour base
2 T. white cornmeal
1-1/2 T. fine pumice
1 T. bentonite clay
2 tsp. of a citrus essential oil (orange, lemon, etc.) or fragrance

Melt base and scent. Stir in cornmeal, pumice and clay continually until it gets to a point where it will stay suspended in the soap. By this time, the soap will be quite thick and cool. Pour into molds.


Fragrance Stones

1-1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup salt
1/4 tsp. cornstarch
2/3 cup boiling water
1 tbls. fragrance oil
Colorant of your choice

Mix all dry ingredients. Heat water in a Pyrex cup in the microwave or on the stove. Add the f/o and the color to the water. Stir water mixture into flour mixture. Mix as best you can and then knead the dough with your hands. At this point you just want it to look like pie or cookie dough. Roll it out about a quarter of an inch thick. Cut into shapes or use cookie cutters. Another option is to stamp the flat shapes. Let the dough stones dry. They get hard as rocks and will last for months.

Crushed grape seeds and almond oil combine to form a soothing, refreshing facial scrub.

2/3 cup crushed grape seeds, packed
1/3 to 1/2 cup Almond Oil
1/2 tsp. vitamin E
45-60 drops of fragrance oil

Mix almond oil, Vitamin E and fragrance together in a glass bowl. Add the crushed grape seeds and mix well. Divvy up into jars. The crushed grape seeds will sink to the bottom - this is normal for scrubs of this type.


This scented body powder pampers the skin. Its rice-and-chamomile base is reputed for softening and soothing chapped or sunburned skin.

2 oz. rice flour (or cornstarch)
1 oz. finely powdered white orrisroot (or arrowroot powder)
1 oz. finely powdered dried chamomile flowers
1 drop lavender essential oil or fragrance oil
2 drops orange fragrance or essential oil
3 drops violet fragrance oil

Combine the above ingredients, mix in the fragrance very well by pressing any lumps down with your fingers. Sift thoroughly and put into containers.


Sugar, Salt and Nut Scrub

1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup ground oatmeal
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup almond oil
45-60 drops fragrance or essential oil

Variation: Add 2 tablespoons of honey for an extra-moisturizing scrub.

Mix almond oil and fragrance or essential oil together in a glass bowl. Add the sugar, finely ground almonds and salt together in a separate bowl and mix thoroughly together. Add this mixture to the almond oil. Mix well with your hands to incorporate and you're done!


Solid Brown Sugar Scrub

4 oz. melted melt and pour soap
8 oz. grapeseed oil or Avocado Oil
3-4 oz. brown sugar
1/2 oz. honey
Fragrance oils or essential oils (20 drops)

Mix your grapeseed oil, honey and melted melt and pour soap together. Add the brown sugar and mix together with hands. You can add your fragrance or essential oils at any point during the mixing process. Divvy up into wide-mouthed jars. Wait 24 to 48 hours for the mixture to harden into a semi-solid mixture.


Oatmeal Melt and Pour Soap Recipe

(1) Melt 8 oz. of white/opaque base
(2) Melt 8 oz. of clear base
(3) Optional: Grind up 1/2 oz. of Oatmeal in coffee grinder for a smoother,
lighter exfoliation. Also, the smaller the particle, the easier to suspend in the soap.
(4) Combine the two bases
(5) Add your fragrance oil - approximately 1/2 oz. (Oatmeal, Milk and Honey is a good one!) and stir in well
(6) Optional: Add colorant
(7) Add the oatmeal and stir. Wait 20 or 30 seconds - is the oatmeal sinking to the bottom of your bowl/Pyrex or is it staying suspended. If it is staying suspended, skip to step 8
(8) If the oatmeal is sinking, this simply means that your base is not thick enough to support the oatmeal. Either cover the bowl/Pyrex with saran wrap and wait for the base to cool, or stir the melted base until it is becomes thick enough to suspend the oatmeal.
(9) Pour your oatmeal soap into molds
(10) Spritz with alcohol to finish the soap and break up any bubbles on the top of the soap
(11) Wait 2 to 3 hours (or even better, overnight!) to pop the soap out of the molds. Wrap with saran wrap and you're done!


Cleopatra's Milk Bath

Pamper yourself with this luxurious bath!
2 cups powdered milk (dry)
1 Tbsp. dried orange peel
2 tsp. dried lavender flowers
2 tsp. dried rosemary

Mix all the ingredients together and pour into a clear glass bottle. Use 1/2 cup of the mixture per bath - soak for 20 minutes. Tie a ribbon and a sprig of dried flowers to the jar for a ready gift!

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Bath Poof Soap Recipe by T.J. Currey

Ingredients

# 4 - 5 oz. clear melt and pour soap

# Bramble Berry "basic dome" 4 oz. soap mold

# 1 - 4" colored bath poof (this might take some experimentation based on what you want, don't be afraid to try a 3" poof)

# 4 - 5 drops of fragrance oil or essential oil


Procedure

1. Start by cutting up small chunks of clear melt-and-pour soap & place in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at 15-second intervals until the glycerin has melted. Let cool a bit and add scent.
2. Place bath poof in the center of the mold, holding the nylon handle upward (you don't want to embed that!)
3. With your other hand, slowly pour glycerin over every section of the bath poof on all sides. The bath poof will start to sink as the glycerin hits it - keep pouring all around until you have submerged the bath poof. A bit of the nylon might poke out a little bit. You can take a bamboo skewer and push it back down into the glycerin.
4. Let the nylon handle lean over out of the glycerin - it will make a nice little rope to hold your soap.
5. Wait until glycerin has cooled and pop soap out of the mold.
(Note: No color is needed as the bath poof acts as the color as you can see through the soap)

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SOURCE: techsoap


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